What’s next for materials and design?

Next week sees the first German edition of Material Xperience On Tour, the material innovation show that travels far and wide to keep you up to date with the newest materials and the most inspiring manufacturers. This edition will be held at DEUBAUKOM in Essen, from January 15th – 18th.

Materia staff will be present throughout the show to inform visitors about the materials exhibition, and to share tips and connections. Creative director Els Zijlstra and editor Philip Allin will also present daily lectures around two highly topical themes: biobased materials and material trends for the future. We’re sharing previews of the lectures below.

Biobased materials

Thanks to growing awareness and developments, sustainable materials are more readily available for the built environment. Biobased materials are set to become more and more important in the future, helping to decrease waste, pollution, toxicity and CO2 emissions. What new materials can complement wood, what’s up with relatively uncommon materials like cork and bamboo, and what about materials made from waste? The lightweight Dendrolight, the sustainable Accoya, Newspaperwood or leathery textiles made from mushrooms are great examples.

As the price of natural resources increases, so our own waste will become more and more interesting and valuable. In this spirit, there are peanut shell panels, macadamia boards, parquet from wine- or whiskey barrels, and bioplastics made using agricultural waste. Both materials and inspiring projects will be shown.

This lecture will be given every day at the show (15th – 18th January) at 11am.

Material trends for the future

New techniques like CNC milling and 3D printing allow us to create the most fantastic free-form architecture, like Enrico Dini is doing with D-Shape, or relief surfaces with 2,5D and even 4D printing techniques. Robots can build walls, nanotechnology creates self-healing materials and smart materials make it possible to create responsive, smart and energy-generating designs. What undiscovered properties do these materials have? We will show exciting samples and projects to inspire and encourage us all towards a better, more sustainable and smarter built environment.

This lecture will be given at the show at 3pm on 15th January and at 2pm from 16th – 18th January.

If you’re in the area, please feel free to visit our exhibition. For tickets and more information click here.